GRAND RAPIDS, MI – As Tony sees it, holding a sign on the side of the road is a lot easier for him – and less intrusive to others – than walking around asking people for money. So he’s happy that the Grand Rapids City Commission this week stalled a proposed ban on begging from motorists with a 3-3 vote.

Standing at the corner of Breton Road and 28th Street SE on Thursday, June 5, the Grand Rapids man said he had received about $30 during six hours of panhandling.

Meet Tony, Grand Rapids panhandler, and his dog Bean

Tony said “there’s a lot of fakers out here and a lot of drunks,” but he’s not one of them. He’s a military veteran who never saved any money and “kind of quit my job (in metal fabrication) to take care of” his wife when she broke her leg a year ago.

The couple’s latest car broke down and they ride the bus from the West Side to 28th Street SE for panhandling. Tony said Thursday he had gotten about $30 at 28th and Breton in six hours of holding a sign next to Bean, an adorable Chihuahua that he smuggles onto the bus. He said his wife, Courtney, a woman with reddening skin that could maybe use a bit more sunscreen, typically makes more than he does.

Courtney

Tony said he has a carpeting job lined up and he’s waiting to hear when that will start. He also has a painting gig in the works. A guy called him by name Thursday and gave him a business card for a local lumber company.

All around him were stores, including a sandwich shop and gas station. “We’ve applied there,” Tony said. “I do look for jobs.”

Courtney was flying a sign Thursday afternoon in the same place we found her last week: at the northeast corner of 28th Street and East Beltline Avenue, where Kentwood and Grand Rapids come together. In Kentwood, it’s illegal to beg from motorists.

“That corner and that corner and that corner are all Kentwood,” she explained, pointing around the intersection. “I got a big fat ticket over there (in Kentwood). That’s how I found out.”

“At least here I don’t have to say anything. If they choose to help, great, that’s awesome,” said Tony, whose last name we’re leaving out at the request of his wife. “I’m glad they didn’t go through with (the restrictions). It gives me a little more time to find a job.

“It gives me time to prepare for the worst because they are going to put a stop to it.”

There has been an apparent increase in the population of panhandlers since a federal court ruled in 2012 that begging is a First Amendment right. As a result, several area cities have enacted local restrictions that limit where and how panhandling can be done.

Similar restrictions are on the table in Grand Rapids, but City Commission this week backed away from the proposal amid divided public input. The commission on Tuesday, June 10, is expected to authorize a study of what to do – if anything – about panhandling in Grand Rapids.

Some business groups are pressuring the city to crack down on beggars, while some others say the restrictions would criminalize people for being poor and inhibit their right to free speech.

“It’s public sidewalk, isn’t it?” said a beggar at the corner of Bridge Street and Scribner Avenue NW who declined to give his name. “I ain’t breaking no law.

“They get paid for it,” he said, pointing across the street to people holding a union sign criticizing the business practices of a local construction contractor. “Why can’t I?”

Here’s the story behind the guy at Bridge and Scribner

• He worked at a nursery in Florida, but lost that job a year ago and his sister brought him to Michigan. “I tried finding work and can’t find no work and I’m not going to live with her because she has family,” he said.

• He spends some nights in a shelter on Division Avenue, but “you have no freedom” there, he said. “Once you’re in, you can’t go out.” He said he sleeps in a tent along the river north of Michigan Street.

• He’s 61 years old, almost old enough to qualify for Social Security. But he’s hoping to get disability before his next birthday. “I need money now.” He said he’s arthritic and a diabetic.

• He pulled a handful of quarters – maybe $4 to $5 – out of the pocket of the pants he got from a nearby mission. He said he usually gets about $10 to $12 panhandling and spends it on cigarettes, beer “and maybe a sandwich.”

If Grand Rapids bans beggars from holding signs at street corners, what about the hand-held union sign? Or hand-held advertisements for pizza? Or for car wash fundraisers?

At 28th Street and Eastern Avenue SE, two girls Thursday afternoon held a sign asking for help getting back home to Kalamazoo. They said they rode to Grand Rapids with one of the girls’ boyfriends and were left stranded after a fight.

Did they have a legitimate reason for holding a roadside sign? Should people need a legitimate reason for holding a roadside sign?

“Some people are poor and they need help,” said a beggar at Scribner Avenue and Leonard Street NW who declined to give her name. “And some people are disabled and can’t work.”